


Death and the Devil

by sarahxsmile



Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Angels & Demons, M/M, eruri - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-01-08
Updated: 2015-01-07
Packaged: 2018-03-06 14:52:43
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,754
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3138344
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sarahxsmile/pseuds/sarahxsmile
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Erwin is the personification of death, and he falls in love with the angel Levi, the light bringer, and loves him even after the fall.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Death and the Devil

**Author's Note:**

> Eyyyyoooo so this was an idea I had with the lovely and beautiful andtheheir where Erwin was Death and Levi was in a very loose kind of Lucifer position. Much of the dialogue was made with her help as well thanks dear xoxo
> 
> It'll be done in two parts, the second of which is written but in need of editing. 
> 
> Please enjoy!

The air was soft all around; a heavy, comforting thing. 

Erwin supposed that this was on purpose, the kind of feeling that was easy for a gathering like this. For those creations like the angels and those inevitabilities like himself—though there were certainly less of the inevitables than of the angels. God was often one to include this kind of feeling for the atmosphere he wanted.

There was something to be said for this kind of creation—the beauty of the angels, the soft air—but there would always be an end to everything. Erwin knew he was one of the few guarantees everything that lived had. 

The angels were all beautiful, Erwin admitted to himself as he glanced around at the so-known holy host before him—holy was just a word to him, but he never mentioned it. Although he had introduced himself to a few, he hadn’t found the desire to continue conversation, and none of them seemed so inclined to try either, so he supposed that there wasn’t a problem.

He had seen Time around, her hair caught up and her smile wide as she chatted. The angels seemed enraptured with her, and Erwin couldn’t really blame them. But he didn’t want to talk to Time, and she seemed to have her hands full.

Everyone was busy with someone else, but he didn’t mind. Solitude, even in busy places, was something he was used to, could deal with. Even so, he would have liked someone with whom he could share the silence. 

He was thinking along these lines, absently looking around the open area near the garden and into the galaxies beyond, when his gaze caught on shining, dark hair that was pulled into a low tail at the nape of a neck. Something inside of Erwin swooped low and spun dizzy, and he shook his head at the sudden feeling, brows furrowing. 

He stepped forward without thinking, halting and wanting all at once. Wanting to know more than just dark hair, the curve of an ear, the haze-softened tan color of skin. He watched when the angel began to walk away from the group, followed him to the garden, to the bench that the angel sat upon. When the angel was seated, Erwin could see him from the front, and he swallowed. The face he saw was beautiful too. Dark, sharp eyes, a gentle mouth, a straight nose, and he leaned forward in a small bow when he was close enough to be heard.

“I don’t think we’ve met yet,” Erwin said, eyes on the small curl of a smile that was given to him.

“No,” the angel said, “But we can. I am called Levi, the light bringer.” Levi extended his hand toward Erwin, head tilted as his gaze flicked up and down Erwin’s body like curiosities were in every part of Erwin’s being. 

Erwin found he liked the scrutiny and took the hand offered.

“I like that,” Erwin murmured, because he did. The bow of Levi’s lips curved upward again.

“Oh?” Levi asked, leaning in a little closer, open and inviting, his head tilted to the side. His palm was still warm against Erwin’s. “Some might think it counterintuitive for one such as you to like the light bringer.”

“One such as me?” Erwin asked, tone warm and somewhat amused. He was smiling too, a curious thing. 

“Death,” Levi clarified quietly, watching Erwin carefully. Erwin tipped his head, matching the tilt of Levi’s, and gave a small laugh.

“You may call me Erwin,” he said, “And I think it’s fitting for me to like the light bringer.” 

Erwin let his gaze wander for a moment, to the other angels, pleased to find none cared about how close he leaned to Levi. Or at least, none seemed to. Then again, none had cared much for him in the first place, why would they watch him now? He leaned closer still, finding he had the urge to drop to a knee, though he shook the feeling away.

“Don’t you bring darkness?” Levi asked, “Or, I suppose, oblivion?”

“I bring an end and a beginning,” Erwin said. Levi’s eyes narrowed fractionally and Erwin felt his lips curling in another small smile, shaking his head. “I would not equate it to darkness.” It was never anything Erwin could describe before, but he had never minded, he didn’t have to. It wasn’t for anyone to know before their time. But now, in spite of himself and this knowledge, he wished he had more adequate words for Levi. 

“I won’t know until I experience it I suppose,” Levi said like a soft sigh, a voicing of Erwin’s own thoughts in a way. 

“No,” Erwin said, pleased at the tone of Levi’s words, that he seemed to understand. “You won’t. But I promise that it’s nothing to be afraid of.” His eyes caught on the way Levi’s chin tilted up, the line of his jaw. He wanted to trace the soft curve of skin around bone, but he wouldn’t let go of Levi’s hand if he didn’t have to. He felt its grip tighten around his own.

“I am afraid of nothing,” Levi said, with a small smile that was all charm and poison. The words twisted in Erwin’s stomach, warm and fluttering. His thumb smoothed over the soft skin at the base of Levi’s thumb. 

“Everyone fears something,” Erwin murmured, “I’m sure even God himself is afraid of something.” 

The words, though Erwin felt their truth in his own being, seemed to shutter something in Levi. A tightness came into the corners of his mouth, his gaze went colder, and he tugged his hand away, much to Erwin’s disappointment. 

“He is almighty,” Levi said, eyes slipping down Erwin’s body and then back up, more scrutinizing than before.

“Almighty and fearless are not one in the same,” Erwin pointed out gently, feeling the misstep he had taken, knowing he wouldn’t have said anything different. “And neither are almighty and eternal.” He watched the muscle in Levi’s jaw tense, feeling the angel slipping away from him with every word. It coiled in his chest, cold and tight. He wanted to reach back in time, pull the words away, to bring back the Levi from only moments ago. But it was something he had never been able to do, would never do, and Time would never allow it anyway. 

“What does that mean?” Levi asked, his eyes still locked on Erwin, still scrutinizing but no longer curious in the same way, like Erwin could be a threat. Erwin swallowed, finding himself suddenly wanting to end this conversation, wanting not to answer. 

“Eventually,” Erwin said, slow and deliberate, “even God will experience my end and my beginning.” Levi’s gaze became colder still and Erwin felt it like ice in his gut, wishing he could have lied and knowing that he never would have. “Even I will, someday.”

“That’s very depressing,” Levi said, pushing himself to his feet and stepping away from Erwin carefully, as though he wasn’t sure he wanted to turn his back now. Erwin despaired. 

“As I said,” Erwin said, stepping back to give Levi his space, much as he didn’t want to, “death does not equate to darkness.” 

“No,” Levi said, sounding much like he didn’t agree. “Maybe not.”

Erwin didn’t move, didn’t speak. He wasn’t sure what to do now, but he didn’t stop watching Levi. He wanted to find a way to reorder his words, to go back and speak them again, to say something that would keep Levi here, close. Keep him coy and soft smiles. He watched Levi’s gaze flick over his shoulder.

“Excuse me,” Levi said, skirting around Erwin and walking over to a small collection of his siblings. 

Erwin closed his eyes and ignored both the desire to follow him, and the desire to leave. 

xxx

 

Erwin felt the heavy, relaxing warmth as he touched down in heaven, stepped around the groups of angels who didn’t want to talk to him. It felt like eons since he had visited, the last gathering being the last time. It was perhaps not quite so long. He had been invited again because God wanted to celebrate his newest creations. The humans. They weren’t really why Erwin was here though.

He looked for Levi.

Erwin found him in the garden again, away from everyone else. There was something different, off about him this time, but he was still beautiful. Levi’s arms were crossed and he kept his gaze away from anyone who seemed like they might even be thinking about celebrating. From anyone who seemed like they might be thinking about talking to him. His mouth was drawn into a tight, almost frown, his eyebrows knit together. It seemed that most everyone was avoiding him. 

Erwin couldn’t, though, curiosity and the simple desire to be at his side pushing him to stand next to Levi. He said nothing, clasping his hands behind his back as he looked out at the garden, the flowers and trees, and beyond that, the stars.

Levi met his gaze when Erwin finally looked down upon him. Levi’s eyes were searching, dark and burning, as he watched Erwin.

“Do you kill humans?” Levi asked after a long time of simply looking. Erwin, rolling this phrasing around in his mind, didn’t like where it could very easily go. He wasn’t one to let a question like that lie, though.

“Kill is not the word I would choose,” he said finally, his tone gentle, correcting, “But yes, I will take their lives too.” 

Levi’s eyes flashed darker for a second and he turned, facing Erwin more directly. Erwin felt his mouth dry up at the intensity of Levi’s gaze, at how close he was standing. He thought he could feel the warmth from Levi’s body.

“Would you though?” Levi asked this time, close enough to let his tone be quiet, and Erwin stared. Levi was looking at him with a dark kind of hope, an expectation. Not so thunderous as it had been, but with something akin to righteousness, a confidence in the lines of his muscles, the set of his jaw. 

And Erwin, oh, he wanted to give himself to Levi, for whatever purpose that might be served. He wanted to say yes, that he would do that, would do it all. 

But he couldn’t.

“No,” he said, the word clipped off when he saw the snarl that curled Levi’s lips. He wasn’t sure what Levi had been expecting him to say.

“They’re worthless,” Levi said, hissed so as not to be heard by anyone but Erwin, “They’re not. They’re nothing.” 

Erwin closed his eyes for a moment, feeling Levi’s expectations on him, weighted heavy. He let out a breath, knowing he still wanted to give Levi help with this. To do what he wanted. But he couldn’t, and he waited for the desire to ebb away. 

“I will not take a life until it is time,” he said, his voice low and steady. Levi’s teeth flashed, disappointment and anger. Erwin wanted to run his fingers along the edges of Levi’s lips, over the curves of his teeth, knowing that he’d get bitten. 

He watched as Levi’s lips then tightened into a thin line, eyes narrowing as he looked away, over at his celebrating siblings. He did not appear to be actually watching them.

“Fine,” Levi hissed. Erwin took the opportunity to look Levi over again, watching the way his fingers tightened against one another in their anger. 

“Why do you want to kill them?” Erwin asked, gentle as he could. Every other angel he had seen seemed content enough to celebrate. Perhaps they enjoyed celebration for the celebration, and not the cause.

“Because they’re not worth all that—His—love,” Levi snapped, fast enough to sound like he had wanted to say it for a long time. Like he had been waiting for someone to ask. “They’re so - so fractured and flawed.” 

Erwin met Levi’s gaze when Levi looked at him again. His heart constricted, a thick swallow in his throat to keep from saying anything he couldn’t hope to promise.

“I’m sorry I can’t give you want you want,” Erwin murmured, wanting to reach out, to thumb over the tight muscles clenched at Levi’s jaw, to find out how Levi’s hair would feel when caught between his fingers. He kept his hands at his sides, curled them to keep them there.

“No one can, it seems,” Levi said, bright anger and tone all sounding like he wasn’t even really talking to Erwin any longer.

Levi, with the set of his shoulders and the tension in his jaw, made Erwin feel uneasy, like the ground under his feet was tilting and he wasn’t sure if he could get his footing. He felt like there was maybe a tipping point here, in this moment. Or that maybe one had already passed. 

“Before you do anything,” Erwin said, because Levi did look like someone who was on the verge of doing something very big. Something that would change worlds. “Make sure it’s what you want.” Levi’s eyes flicked back to Erwin’s face, quick and sharp.

“Obviously,” he said like a bite, like poison. Erwin exhaled and tipped his head back to take a moment, knowing he should hate the tone of Levi’s voice. Knowing that he didn’t.

“Is this why you’re not with the others?” Erwin asked.

“I don’t want to celebrate them,” Levi said, hissed. Erwin looked down in time to watch Levi’s teeth flash as he bared them. 

“Your father will notice your absence,” Erwin said quietly, glancing back towards the celebration.

“He knows how I feel,” Levi said, his head tilting back and up like it was something to be proud of. Erwin didn’t say anything else, practically able to taste the sharpness of the words that had come out of Levi’s mouth. He wanted to slide his fingers down the sloping curve of Levi’s neck. 

Erwin knew he should leave Levi like this, that he should make more of an effort to talk to the others, but he felt stuck. He didn’t want to leave Levi like this, even knowing there was probably nothing he could do. Levi’s throat worked in a swallow.

“He says I should love them over everything,” Levi said finally, the words like a dam bursting, “Even Him. As though I could do something like that.” 

“And you told him you could not?” Erwin prompted when Levi didn’t continue. He was watching Levi with a softness he could feel, but Levi was not looking at him

“I told him I could not,” Levi repeated, staring at the stars like it might be their fault.

Erwin looked out too, at the stars, the galaxies that passed by each other in eons. If he wanted, he knew he could reach out to each one, find out how long it had left. He didn’t do that anymore. 

“I’m sorry I cannot give you what you want,” Erwin said quietly because he was, indeed, very sorry. Levi’s jaw clenched, the muscle jumping, and he turned his head away.

“Everyone is always sorry.”

Erwin didn’t say anything to that as he tilted his head down to look again at Levi, to take him in. He looked at the way Levi’s hair fringed almost into his eyes, how delicate, fragile his cheekbones looked, and curled his fingers again to keep his hands at his side. Erwin knew that Levi was force to be reckoned, beautiful and deadly. He bowed his head.

“I have to go greet everyone,” Erwin said, though he didn’t really need to. But he needed to get a hold of himself before he started to promise things he couldn’t. 

Levi didn’t look at him, and Erwin took the opportunity to look Levi over again. It felt like there was an ending here, but he couldn’t name it. Erwin knew about endings, though, and the calms before storms. So he took Levi in and committed him to memory, before he turned and slipped away.

xxx

Whatever Levi had tried to do, Erwin knew it wasn’t successful. He took several angels that day, and was grateful that none were Levi. Instead, he watched as Levi was cast down by his own brother, his companions following him down in the long fall, and felt like his chest was going to split open.

Levi, snarling and burning and freezing all at once, still looked so beautiful as he fell.

**Author's Note:**

> And if anyone is so inclined, feel free to follow me on tumblr at rhymesfordimes :)


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